A dramatic and damning narrative account of how America has fought the "War on Terror" In the days immediately following September 11th, the most powerful people in the country were panic-stricken. The radical decisions about how to combat terrorists and strengthen national security were made in a state of utter chaos and fear, but the key players, Vice President Dick Cheney and his powerful, secretive adviser David Addington, used the crisis to further a long held agenda to enhance Presidential powers to a degree never known in U.S. history, and obliterate Constitutional protections that define the very essence of the American experiment. THE DARK SIDE is a dramatic, riveting, and definitive narrative account of how the United States made terrible decisions in the pursuit of terrorists around the world decisions that not only violated the Constitution to which White House officials took an oath to uphold, but also hampered the pursuit of Al Qaeda. In gripping detail, acclaimed New Yorker writer and bestselling author, Jane Mayer, relates the impact of these decisions-U.S.-held prisoners, some of them completely innocent, were subjected to treatment more reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition than the twenty-first century. THE DARK SIDE will chronicle real, specific cases, shown in real time against the larger tableau of what was happening in Washington, looking at the intelligence gained-or not-and the price paid. In some instances, torture worked. In many more, it led to false information, sometimes with devastating results. For instance, there is the stunning admission of one of the detainees, Sheikh Ibn al-Libi, that the confession he gave under duress-which provided a key piece of evidence buttressing congressional support of going to war against Iraq--was in fact fabricated, to make the torture stop. In all cases, whatever the short term gains, there were incalculable losses in terms of moral standing, and our country's place in the world, and its sense of itself. THE DARK SIDE chronicles one of the most disturbing chapters in American history, one that will serve as the lasting legacy of the George W. Bush presidency. 

Customer Rating:
Summary: Best Book on Bush Misdeeds
Comment: Of many books I have read on the misdeeds and mistakes of the Bush Administration in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the War on Terror generally, this is the best. Its impact sinks in page after page, horrific detail after horrific detail.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Groupthinkers for torture
Comment: Jane Mayer has written a well-documented analysis of how the White House succumbed to the sociology of groupthink and pretty much froze out those who disagreed with or questioned the wisdom of allowing torture under any name.

There are a lot of books about the machinations of the White House available, but I think this one is the best.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Dark Side
Comment: While this book does not mince words, about the horrific tactics that our government has done, I found it informative but tedious. The public must be informed but the main objective I think is to "vote the rascals out!"

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Customer Rating:
Summary: FRIGHTENING AND EMBARRASSING IN EQUAL MEASURE
Comment: (From a conversation with the author on a local radio call-in program)
Somehow, i endured to the end of this frightening book. It frightened me in ways i didn't know i could be frightened. I found your vignettes well-supported and the story they tell, coherent and overwhelming. They are even more overwhelming when read as a whole than as a series of episodes.

By the time I got to the bottom of page 274, and read that Ramzi Kassem, whom you describe as having taught at Yale Law School, had reported that his Yemeni client "told him that during his incarceration in the Dark Prison [which you report as being near Kabul Airport] he had attempted suicide three tines by ramming his head into the walls..." By that point, knowing that I still had 60 nightmarish pages to finish, i found myself considering beating my own head with the book, so i wouldn't have to read them.

I have three questions. First, how have you defended "The Dark Side" against people who continue to support what i'd term Cheney/Bush's "security über allez" irrespective of constitutionality approach? Second, have you faced charges that you are merely "swiftboating" Cheney/Bush; if so, how would you defend yourself? I ask these questions so that i might better help you defended your book when people around me question your work. [The author answered that not a single claim had been challenged by anyone involved, or by any agent of the government,]

Finally, in view of Dan Levin's 'magic footnote' (my term) which stated that "nothing that the [US} government had previously authorized would be considered criminal under [Levin's] new interpretation of the law" (page 306, bottom), do you, Ms. Mayer foresee any possibility of criminal charges being brought against either Cheney or Bush under US laws? ... or War Crime charges being brought at the World Court? Is it possible that any of the Principles Group cold be arrested under international law, as General Pinochet was in England? [The author responded that this was unlikely to happen in the US,, but more likely to happen in another country---so, I say, let's start up a Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld international travel fund!]

Thank you for writing this truly troubling book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The most essential book written in the past 10 years.
Comment: If you truly love your country, you must read this book. I have to be honest, because I love my country, because the ideals of this nation are so important, because due process and the rule of law are what separate us from our enemies, I felt incredible sadness, even shame as an American, reading this book. Still, it must be read, and it should be read by everyone planning to vote in November. Quite simply, Bush, Cheney, Addington, Yoo and others betrayed this nation and, I believe, should be brought up on war crime charges. And, if you think I'm just another liberal, you're wrong. I supported the first President Bush and John McCain in 2000, and I honor of memory and legacy of Ronald Reagan.

The truth is never easy to accept, but it must come out. We should always remember John 8:32.

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